Page 87 of Love Undiscovered
“No.”
“Please.” I rest my palm against the door and hang my head.
She doesn’t answer me.
“I’m not married, Remi. Not even close.” I lean against the door, trying to get closer to her.
She remains silent.
“Did she say we were married?”
Silence.
“We aren’t. We never were. I’d like to explain, but I need you to open the door.”
The sounds of the band echo in the hall.
“Remi. Please.”
“Why does she think you were married?” she asks after a minute.
“We were engaged. I called it off. She was… cheating,” I say, reverting back to one of my original tall tales where Helen was concerned.
She unlocks the door but doesn’t open it. I turn the knob and enter slowly, not sure what to expect. She’s sitting on the toilet, fully clothed, dabbing at her eyes.
“I’m not crying,” she says.
“I can tell,” I say with a small laugh.
“Fuck you,” she says. “I’m not crying. It’s just allergies or PMS. There’s dust everywhere in this fucking place.”
“I believe you.” Even though I can clearly see she’s crying. But if she says she’s not, then that’s what I’m going with for now.
I kneel in front of the toilet and place a hand on the outside of each of her shoulders, then wait until she looks up at me.
“Your eyes are red,” I say, trying to lighten the mood.
“Like I told you—”
“I know, I’m sorry. I was just trying to tease you.” I smile to show I’m serious about teasing.
“Don’t tease me about crying. I don’t cry.”
“Ok.” I run the back of my hand along her cheek and use my thumb to catch some of the tears that are clearly not there. Since she doesn’t cry.
“Helen and I were engaged.”
“Helen.”
“Yes.”
“That’s an awful name,” she says with a bitter laugh.
“For an awful person.”
“Yeah.” She blows her nose. I take the used tissue from her and throw it away, then hand her a fresh one to use. She dabs at her eyes again.
“She cheated on me. Countless times. I didn’t find out until two weeks before the wedding.”
